[stylist] {Spam?} Short Story, "Sammie"

[Vejas]

I just realized there's an inconsistency in the last names. Sammie's last name should be Saltonstall, not Saltsmann.
Vejas 

> On Sep 23, 2016, at 14:03, Vejas Vasiliauskas via stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
> I have created another short story, as I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things with writing, and would appreciate your feedback.  Although I have not experienced this situation myself, I actually did know someone similar to Sammie, though with much lass drama, and the family situation I created her is totally a creation of mine.
> Enjoy!
> Vejas
> Sammie
> by Vejas Vasiliauskas
> Chapter 1
> Moving In
> I consider myself fairly mentally stable.  I've grown up in a loving, albeit unique household, have never touched drink or drugs and, although you may not exactly call me a social butterfly, I make friends easily.
> I am currently a sophomore at Collins College in Colorado Springs, Colorado, an amazing college with wonderful staff.  I get along with my suitemates Lara, Anna and Dana wonderfully, and couldn't ask for anything better, even if Anna can't get herself together and loses something every few minutes.
> But I wanted to tell you about my first roommate experience, last year, as a college freshman.  Most people have either amazing or nasty roommates, but I honestly don't know along which lines mine fell.
> I haven't introduced myself yet.  My name is Tanya Green, and when this story took place last year I was only 17.  It really sucks to be 17, when your friends can sign themselves up for the gym.  Most parents would be thrilled that their child was going to go to the gym, but mine felt that excersize was too much work and a waste of time.  Which could explain why my whole family except me are fat...
> Anyway, I digress.  When I moved in, I wasn't all too nervous.  I had already gone to the summer orientation and knew what to expect.  I chose not to have my parents attend, because I wanted to do this on my own, and they respected that.
> All of that first Friday was devoted to moving in.  Two hours after I had gotten settled, and my roommate still hadn't showed up.  According to my plaque her name was Samantha Saltonstall.
> I thought of just how wonderful a life I would have without a rommate.  I could eat everything inside the dorm, and blast music as loudly as I wanted to.
> But then she did come, and she was a sight.  Dishdevilled, hair all over the place, red, puffy eyes.
> "Pull yourself together, Sammie!" the man with her snapped.  "You don't want everyone to know that you only got up at 2 PM when forced and that you have been crying, do you?"
> He was talking loud enough for the whole hall to hear.
> "No," Sammie said in a very weak voice.
> "I've got better things to do," Mr.  Saltsmann said, dumping Sammie's suitcase at her feet.  "You should have called a cab or something.  I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart."
> And then he was gone.
> And Sammie was crying.
> "I'm so sorry," I said to her sympathetically.  "Your dad doesn't seem like the nicest person."
> "Oh, usually he is," the girl sobbed.  "It's because of McKenzie."
> "McKenzie?"
> "His girlfriend.  She plays around with him a lot.  Acts nice, randomly dumps him, then gets back with him again.  He will do anything, anything at all to please McKenzie.  Last night they were just having fun riding around, and then she just randomly screamed for him to get out, so he had to walk 5 miles.  You'll see though, in a couple of days, she'll take him back.  Have you thought of dinner?"
> "No, I haven't," I sighed, thinking that I should have grabbed it while waiting for this girl.
> "Domino's Pizza delivers right to the dorm.  We can get whatever you want.  Most people think my combination is weird, but I love pepperoni jalapeno."
> "Omigod!" I shrieked.  "I love it too!"
> Sammie seemed to have a lot of money.  What really amazed me was, she insisted on paying for the whole thing.  I should  have offerred to pay for part of it, but I wanted to save my meal plan and the idea just seemed too tempting.
> Chapter 2
> The First Signs
> Saturday and Sunday of that week were devoted to Welcome Weekend, to get parents and students acquainted with the school.  My parents didn't need to be there; they had already come to the parent orientation.  I figured Mr.  Saltsmann's choice of whether he would be in the mood to come depended on which mood McKenzie was in.
> When I got back to the dorm after hanging out with some of the students, with the excitement of the new year looming forward, I found Sammie on her bed, sobbing her heart out.
> "What's the matter?" I asked.  I wasn't usually particularly an emotional person, but I do care.
> "Everyone was looking at me funny," she stuttered between her sobs.  "They all hate me!"
> I could have slapped her at this point, but I didn't.
> "It's going to be OK," I said.  "You might just be imagining it."
> "Shut up!" she hissed.
> She wouldn't talk to me at all the rest of the night.  Like, literally, not a single word.  However, she had absolutely no problem talking to her friend Eliza on Skype.
> I thought the treatment would continue the next morning, but it didn't.  Sammie was all smiles.
> "Let's go for sandwiches at dinner," she gushed.  "I'll even pay for it!"
> I was game.  However, I worried that Sammie might decide not to talk to me for whatever the ond reason.  I even asked her about it later that day, when eyone seemed in a good mood.
> "Oh, that's just how I get," she explained matter-of-factly.  "I suffered from mental abuse since the age of 3, and due to this I have depression."
> Hmm, it sounded a bit too scripted...
> She continued.  "You should be relieved that that's how I react.  McKenzie screams the whole entire house down."
> "But you were able to talk to Eliza just fine?"
> "Yes," she said a little haughtily.  "Because Eliza understands my moods and doesn't give me a hard time about them."
> I decided not to continue the conversation any further.
> I thought she would be depressed again after the day's events, but she was as happy as ever.
> "A boy looked at me! I think he loves me.  His name is Otto!" And with that, we got our sandwiches.
> Monday, after our first day of classes, Sammie seemed excited about all of them.  I didn't think I could possibly dampen the mood, but I did.
> "Did you see Lover Boy?" I asked in a joking voice.
> And she burst into tears.
> "I was just kidding with you," I told her a little defensively.  "That's what friends do."
> The silent treatment lasted 2 days.
> Chapter 3
> Continuation
> As the weeks progressed, Sammie and my relationship did as well.  Sometimes she had extremely horrible days, but other times she was as excited as ever.
> I learned more about her traumatic life.  Her mother had been only 17 when she was born and, after the birth, simply dumped her on the doorstep of a neighbor-Mr.  Saltsmann-and left for Egypt.  At the time, Mr.  Saltsmann was married to a woman she called Mom.  They adopted her and seemed to be the happiest family in the world, until Sammie was 3, when Mrs.  Saltsmann left her husband unexpectedly for another man.  This man wasn't all horrible; he wanted Sammie to join him and her mother so that they could live a happy life.  But Mr.  Saltsmann would not have it, explaining that the only way Mrs.  Saltsmann could see Sammie was if she left this man and came back.  But she never did and, a month after the separation, Mr.  Saltsmann met McKenzie Golick.  He was on the rebound, except this was more than a rebound.  As McKenzie continued to play with her father's emotions, she watched from the sidelines.  Sometimes when McKenzie would dump him, Mr.  Saltsmann would find other girls for a while, but eventually always come back to McKenzie.  At one point there was a woman named Marlene who was very friendly, and Sammie was hoping for a happy family again-until McKenzie texted her father to say that they should get back together again.
> I felt a little better about Sammie after I learned her story.  Obviously if I had come from a dysfunctional family such as this one, I would not have been happy.  And for most of these first few months, I never, ever had to use my meal plan.
> Chapter 4
> The Last Straw
> "Why do you take advantage of me?"
> That was Sammie's first question when we got up on the Sunday of the sixth week of school.  "You never, ever offer to pay me back.  Why?"
> I was shocked.  All this time she said it didn't matter.  But it's not like she was angry, more that she was mournful, because she soon began to sob again.
> I wanted this sudden money issue resolved'.  But soon she took the conversation into another direction, a much more uncomfortable direction.
> "I think I'll just kill myself," she said.
> I wasn't in the best mood.  I was sick of Sammie's moods.  I didn't want to deal with it.  I just wanted to move on with my life.  Dana, one of my current roommates, had offered for me to come back home for half the day to spend with her parents and sisters, and that's what I did.
> I received a text when Dana's mother was driving us back to the dorm.  It was from Sammie, and it said "Don't worry, when we get back you will never, ever have to see me again!"
> I was horrified and wracked with guilt.  Dana and her mother both asked me what was wrong, though I just couldn't tell either of them.
> When I got back into the dorm, it was quiet as ever.  But on Sammie's bed there was a note.
> Dear Tanya,
> I haven't actually killed myself, nor do I plan to.  It is just something I said on the heat of the moment, since for some reason you can't stand my silent treatment.  I decided to go to a baseball game with some friends.
> Please don't be mad, I was just messing with you as friends do.  Or at least that's what you said friends do when you were teasing me about Otto.
> Also, can you please pay me back for the sandwiches? It's because of McKenzie.
> Thanks,
> Sammie
> Chapter 5
> Onwards
> I requested a roommate change that night, after I paid back Sammie the money.  Obviously in coming from a background such as Sammie's, I could not expect her to be mentally stable.  Hell, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have 2 women abandon you, 1 inconsistent; to have a man as a father who put everything into his relationship and another man who, despite being a cheat, might have loved her and helped her lead a normal life.  I could even say she was making it up, although I had seen how Mr.  Saltsmann could be.  My new roommmate was Lara, one of my current suitemates, who is amazing.  Of  all my suitemates, she is the only one who knows the full extent of my story.
> Sammie tried it on me a couple of times.  Texting me to apologize, then to say that her life would be more depressing without me, and then that we could have sandwiches again and she would pay for them regardless of how McKenzie felt.  At times I was guilty for not ever replying, but now I am happy I haven't, because Sammie is still alive and well.  She may not have had the best childhood, but it's now her responsibility to sort herself out.
> That is my story.  Take from it what you want.  I hope putting it out in the open like this will serve as some kind of help to you.
> <sammie.doc>
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